Week 11; August 12, 2021

What’s in the box?

tomatoes
basil
dill
green pepper
onions
cauliflower
summer squash/zucchini
cucumbers
sweet corn
carrots
new potatoes
golden beets (medium and large shares)
watermelon (small and large shares)

Notes on the box

Green top golden beets! The greens and the beets are edible. These beets won’t turn everything pink, but you can use them in place of a red beet in your favorite recipe. Don’t toss the greens! But for longer storage, remove them from the beetroots.
Basil can be stored in a vase of water on your counter. Basil doesn’t like to get wet and also doesn’t like it too cold. I like to have them on the counter next to the tomatoes. They go together really well for a quick fresh flavorful salad with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.
Josh was wondering if we are putting too many cucumbers in the boxes… But then we (including the kids) came in and each ate a whole large one a piece with dinner. We can’t get enough of this perfect refreshing food that’s great sliced up and eaten plain as a snack, or made into quick pickles or in salads. Hope you are enjoying the bounty!

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Garlic Dill Quark and Antares cows milk manchego. The quark is so good on a piece of bread with some tomato or cucumber on top. And the manchego would be fantastic on a summer tomato tartlette if you are feeling fancy!

Some folks that have signed up for 10 weeks of cheese deliveries are reaching the end of cheese deliveries! If you would like to continue to get cheese delivered with your veggies you can go to the "specialty and others" category in the store and add cheese shares there! We have the option of adding cheese one delivery at a time, or you can select to have cheese delivered with every remaining veggie share. :) Let us know if you have any questions!

Recipes.

Tomato Manchego Tartlets

Zucchini Brownies this recipe was tested and shared by our friend and CSA member, Danielle. I’m going to ask Otto and Sadie to try it out for us! They love baking!

On the Farm.

Sadie helping with Sunday milking

carrots! from the beautiful soil to your plate!

Phil and Magdalen bunching carrots

cauliflower!

sunny enjoying some rejected cucumbers

baby beans!

Next Week.

similar to this week but no dill or cauliflower
Beans should FINALLY be ready!

Turnip Rock FarmerAugust 12, 2021Comment

Week 10; August 5, 2021

What’s in the box?

carrots
zucchini/ summer squash
sweet corn
tomatoes
onions
spinach
cilantro
salad mix (medium and large)
cucumbers
garlic
watermelon (large)

Notes on the box

Store sweetcorn, and all your other veggies in the fridge. Garlic and onions can go in our stay on the counter, but they aren’t cured for long term storage.
As always, remove the tops from the carrots before putting them in the fridge.
Tomatoes should be stored stem side down on the counter, out of the fridge. If they are getting too ripe, you can keep them in the fridge, but the texture and flavor may change a little. Not a big deal of you are planning on cooking with them.

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Take note! If you signed up for 10 cheese share deliveries and have not used a hold, this is your last cheese delivery! If you want to get a cheese share in the future, I have added the option in our store of adding a cheese share to a delivery or you can add cheese to all of your deliveries. Follow the link in your delivery email.

This week we have cheese curds… always a favorite for snacking! We also have a cheese that was made last year. It’s a grana style that’s very firm and dry. It’s good for grating over pasta or on salads. The recipe isn’t quite where I want it to be, so there’s no name. I’ll keep working on the recipe, but it’s one of those things that takes a long time to figure out if changes in the recipe are working since it has to age for over a year!

Recipes.

Fresh Grilled Corn Salsa
shuck an ear of corn and grill it on each side on a hot griddle or cast iron skillet. remove from heat and allow to cool. While it’s cooling, finely dice some onion, a bell pepper, a hot pepper (optional), mince a clove of garlic, and dice a few tomatoes, and chop fresh cillantro. Cut kernels from the corn cob. Mix everything together and salt and fresh lime juice to taste. You can also add a can of drained and rinsed black beans. Enjoy with tortilla chips or on tacos.

Roasted Cauliflower and suggestions for use

77 Cucumber Recipes in case you are in need of inspiration!

On the Farm.

This week we are basking in some summer glory. Josh is in his happy place with all the sweet corn he can eat! We’ve eaten BLTs or veggie sandwiches almost every day for the last 2 weeks.

Last weekend we got to go to the Polk County Fair. We love to see the kids showing animals and have a look at all the chickens and rabbits and horses and alpacas. All the cool 4H arts and crafts. We partake in some fair food and maybe some rides.

We also were grateful to get to have Ken Meter, one of the most experienced food system analysts in the U.S. (and also a CSA member!) come out to help our local Farmers Union chapter brainstorm on some ideas to improve our local food movement. We are trying to find lasting ways to build community around local food, make food from our farms more accessible, protect natural resources that we all depend on, and make our rural economy less extractive and more vibrant. If you are interested in food systems, a great place to learn some more is in Ken Meter’s book Building Community Food Webs. Here’s an article from Civil Eats to learn a little more.

Happy cooking and happy eating!

Ken Meter and Farmers Union members who are working on a local food alliance and brainstorming ideas to build community around local food, make food from our farms more accessible, protect natural resources that we all depend on, and keep our rural economy diverse and vibrant.

It wasn’t all business! Burgers and sweetcorn followed!

The clean water and air rally against a giant hog factory in our county made the front page of the local paper.

a beautiful box!

tomato time!

Cauliflower came in in a big way this week!

happy farmer

Phil washing these beauties

what do farmers do when work is over for some fun?

a nice community potluck at a neighboring farm where Isaac got to play some music with new friends

Time for a trip to the county fair! One of our friends showing a cow. She got a blue ribbon in showmanship!

Isaac’s first demo derby!

some polk county culture

Magdalen and Anabel flying high at the fair.

Next Week.

sweet corn
onions
peppers
cukes
squash
tomatoes
potatoes
beets
basil
dill
leeks?
melons?

Turnip Rock FarmerAugust 5, 2021Comment

Week 9; July 29, 2021

What’s in the box?

tomatoes! (medium and large shares)
corn
onions
celery
cucumbers
pepper
broccoli
carrots
zucchini/summer squash
cauliflower (small and large shares)

Notes on the box.

First Tomatoes of the season! Yum! and more to come! Tomatoes are best stored with the stem side facing down on your counter. They tend to get a little mealy and flavor isn’t as great if stored in the fridge, but if you are going to be cooking with them, putting them in the fridge isn’t a big deal. Enjoy!
Sweet corn! Store it in the fridge. We pick it right before we pack it so it’s good and fresh. The sooner you eat it the better it will taste. We go for corn on the cob within the first couple days of picking. Just a pot of simmering water, drop in the shucked and de-silked corn, let it simmer for maybe 3-5 minutes, get it out of the water and put on some butter, salt, and enjoy! If we don’t eat it all as corn on within the first few days, we like to cook it in a more involved recipe like chili, corn chowder, or a sauteed corn in pasta!
Celery is rough this season. We planted it in a higher spot with sandy soil so that it would be well drained if we had another wet year. But this year being super dry, the celery just didn’t size up. It’s got a super concentrated flavor, though. The stems are good in salads and leaves for stock.
Remember to remove the tops from the carrots for storage so that they don’t go limp!

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Whole Milk Ricotta nd Aquilla, our raw milk aged Jack-style cheese. Time for some yummy desserts with the ricotta? The Aquilla is great for veggie cheese sandwiches… just mayo, spicy mustard, cucumber slices, tomato, bell peppers, and cheese. Dinner here almost every night this week! You can also cube it up to add to salads.

Recipes.

Chilled Cucumber, Celery, and Avocado Soup
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan. Add a diced onion, a bunch of diced celery stalks, 2 cloves of minced garlic to the pan and saute until tender. Add 2 cups of chicken or vegetable sock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are soft. Chill well. When fully chilled, transfer to a blender and add 1 seeded, unpeeled large cucumber or a couple of medium cucumbers and some chopped cilantro, dill, or other fresh herb of your choice. Blend well. Add 1/2 an avocado, diced and 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (optional) and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt. Garnish with more diced cucumber and avocado and serve.

Easy Broccoli Salad This recipe calls for chopping the broccoli into small florettes, but I like to use my food processor to make it go a little quicker. A few pulses and it’s ready to go. Add some shredded carrots, too!

Zucchini, Sweetcorn, and Chermoula I’m so excited to try this recipe!

Esquites Mexican Corn Salad A favorite here!

Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil

Sweetcorn, Ricotta, and Zucchini Fritters

On the farm.

Don’t forget to add mushrooms or coffee to your next delivery through the link with your name in the delivery email! Let me know if you have any questions.

Folks it’s been hot. I’m sure you all have been feeling it, too. We are doing our best to get everything done despite the heat. We got some serious rain last night and thankfully nothing came of the tornado warnings!